Fated
by finnsnixx
Summary: Christmas au where Finn and Rachel are both elves at the mall but they don't know each other.


Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.

Finn sighed as he came to a stop; his eyes moved downward looking at the bells on his shoes. It was his first day on this job and he was becoming very annoyed with the constant jiggling. He took a deep breath telling himself to hurry up so he could get back inside the mall. It was cold out, but he had been sent out to find one of his coworkers. They were all supposed to be inside helping decorate before the mall opened. He cleared his throat leaning around a corner, he saw a young woman dressed in an elf costume like he was, "Santana?" He called out.

"_What?" _The woman called back to him. _"I'm on a smoke break." _She muttered bringing a cigarette to her lips.

Finn furrowed his brow, "How can you be on a smoke break if you haven't even worked yet?"

Santana exhaled blowing smoke into the air, _"Listen jingle dork I'll come when I'm good and ready. The world isn't going to stop because I'm out here sucking on a cig." _She shook her head at him. _"Ya know aren't you a little big to be an elf…" _

"No…" He pouted a little. "Aren't you a little too mean to be one?"

"_Nah, but you are definitely too big. You'd be better off playing Santa tubbers." _She gave a laugh as she spoke.

Finn was about to open his mouth to say something else, but she put out the cigarette and motioned for him to follow her. He let out a thankful sigh; he didn't want to get in trouble for being late because of her. Though she didn't have to be so mean to him, he shook his head walking forward; he opened the door for her, glad to be getting inside where it was warm again. His costume wasn't exactly the warmest thing, it actually kind of sucked. He looked like a total dork, more so than he usually did, plus he had to wear tights. He needed the job; it was not only almost Christmas, but he was a poor college student living off of poptarts, mountain dew, and ramen noodles. He would really like to be able to eat something other than those three things at least once that month.

He shook his head, forcing his thoughts away as he walked up to the fake North Pole that was set up in the middle of the mall. There was a lot of work that still needed to be done, the tree was only partially decorated and they needed to spread out the fake snow. Finn stepped towards the tree looking up to see a woman teetering precariously at the top of the latter. He wondered why they had her all the way up there, the tree was at least eight feet tall, and she was so tiny. "You alright up there?" He called.

"_Wh-what?" _She started to turn, but as she did her foot slipped. She waved her arms frantically as she started to fall backwards.

Finn's eyes widened, but he moved quickly holding his arms out for her. "It's okay! I got you." He called up to her as she stumbled back, slipping completely off the latter. She gave a squeal as she fell into his arms. "Woah." He mumbled as he helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" He looked down at her, scanning her face. She was beautiful, warm brown eyes, rosy cheeks, her nose was a little big, but Finn thought it went perfectly with the rest of her face, which was framed by soft brown curls.

She blinked a couple of times but nodded, _"Yes I think I'm alright." _She took a deep breath smoothing out her elf costume. _"Thanks to you anyway." _She looked up at him still seeming a bit dazed, but she gave him a bright smile. _"Thank you so much, I probably would have broken my neck if it hadn't been for you… I'm Rachel by the way. Rachel Berry." _She held out her hand to him.

Her name was just as pretty as she was; Finn had to stop himself from staring like a dope and take her hand. He gave it a gentle shake, her hand was so tiny in comparison to his own he was kind of afraid to squeeze it. It was kind of silly to think that way, but he couldn't help it. "Uh I'm Finn. It's nice to meet you Rachel." He gave a lopsided grin. "And it's really no problem… I woulda done it for anyone." His cheeks started to burn with an embarrassing pink blush.

Rachel chuckled softly, _"I'm sure, but I still appreciate it none the less." _

They were interrupted by the shrill screech of their boss yelling at them to stop socializing and finish up the work they were supposed to be doing. Finn cringed and shook his head, "If you don't want to get back up the ladder I can do it… or I can hold onto the ladder for you." He felt like his usual awkward self, stumbling over his words, and turning into a total goob in front of a pretty girl. Rachel didn't seem to mind though, which is something he wasn't really used to.

"_I think if you hold onto the ladder and keep it steady I should be fine." _She picked up a few more ornaments and started back up the ladder. Finn moved quickly to hold onto it, but he kept his eyes low not wanting to take a peak up her skirt. Okay he was a twenty year old boy he kind of _wanted _to peak, but at the same time he knew it was totally rude and unprofessional.

"_Does this look good?" _Her voice stirred him from his thoughts. He cleared his throat and slowly turned his head up to look at her. "Wh-what?" He asked her.

"_Does this look good?" _She repeated moving a little so that he could see what she was talking about, she was trying to decide whether or not the little star ornament she held looked okay in the particular spot she was holding it. He nodded, "Y-yeah looks great. You're really good a tree decorating." He cringed because that was probably the lamest compliment ever.

Rachel gave a soft laugh, _"Well thank you Finn." _

"No problem." He smiled up at her, but quickly dropped his eyes low again when he accidentally caught sight of her panty line underneath her tights. They spent the next thirty minutes finishing up the tree. Rachel placed the star on top before climbing down the ladder and rejoining Finn on the ground. "Looks perfect." He said as he closed up the ladder.

"_I couldn't have done it without your help." _

Finn smiled a bit brighter, "I was glad to assist."

He heard the sound of his boss clearing her throat, he pouted, but went to put the ladder away. Everyone worked to get cleaned up and the last few finishing touches around Santa's workshop just before the kids started to arrive. Finn was nervous about this; it was his first day on the job, and his first time being an elf. He wanted everything to go smoothly. His main job was to hand out candy canes to kids when they were done talking to Santa, easy enough, at least he thought so.

Surprisingly the day went pretty well, a few kids had kicked him in the shin, and one asked him why he was so big, but other than that it hadn't been too bad. They had taken a break halfway through the day to have lunch, but they worked until about 2'clock when the second round of Elves came into work. He was starting to get ready to leave when he was stopped by the sound of Rachel's voice calling his name. He turned with a brow raised, "What?"

"_I was hoping you would allow me to treat you to some hot coco." _She smiled brightly up at him.

Finn smiled, but shook his head. "You don't gotta do that."

"_Please?" _She jutted out her lower lip.

As if Finn could say no to that, she was gorgeous and adorable, it was almost unfair. He nodded towards the Starbucks and followed behind her, he watched Rachel order two hot chocolates, hers with soy milk and no whipped cream. "How come you ordered it like that?"

"_Oh I'm a vegan. I don't eat meat or dairy products." _

Finn blinked, "So… no bacon?"

Rachel giggled at him and shook her head, _"Nope no bacon. I'm not supposed to have pork anyway because I'm Jewish as well." _

"Oh uh… Happy Hanukah." He narrowed his eyes in thought, he was pretty sure it was Hanukah right now.

Rachel smiled and handed him his hot coco, _"Thank you." _She nodded towards a free table. Finn followed her sitting down across from her. He opened up the lid and blew on the hot liquid; he lifted the cup and took a slow sip, burning his tongue anyway. He whined and pouted, but the pout soon faded when he looked over at Rachel. He wondered how someone could be so pretty. _"Is there something on my face?" _She reached up and touched her cheeks.

He shook his head, "No sorry, I didn't mean to stare." He looked down at his cup. He was going to tell her that he thought she was pretty, but he decided against it.

"_It's okay." _She lifted her own cup to her lips, Finn noticed that she had a light pink blush on her cheeks, which just made her that much more adorable.

"So uh, you're vegan and Jewish… what else?" He raised his brows wanting to know more about her.

She licked her lips and thought for a moment before speaking again, _"Well I enjoy singing, that is a slight understatement, music is my life and I have full intention of going to one of the finest dramatic arts schools when I'm finished with high school. I'm going to be on Broadway in New York one of these days." _She spoke in a matter of fact tone.

Finn thought it was really cool that she had such big plans, but one thing she said made him nearly choke on his drink. "Wait you're still in high school." He suddenly felt like a total pedophile. He was twenty and he was here forming a crush on a high school student, he was definitely a creep. "Please tell me you're not like fourteen."

Rachel laughed and shook her head, _"No! Of course not. I'm eighteen!" _She giggled again. _"I'm going to graduate this summer. Besides if I was fourteen I couldn't be working here." _

"Oh…. Right. I knew that." He gave a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "So… uh Broadway huh?"

She nodded, _"I've always known I would be a big star." _She smiled and took another sip of her coco. _"I love to perform. I'm even the lead in my school's show choir." _She seemed to beam with pride.

"Cool." Finn took a drink, managing not to burn himself this time, but instead getting whipped cream on his nose. He stuck his tongue out trying to lick away most of the whipped cream on his lips, but he couldn't reach his nose. Rachel giggled at him and leaned forward wiping it away with a napkin. "Thanks." He mumbled blushing brightly.

"_Why don't you tell me about yourself Finn." _

"I uhh I'm not as interesting as you are, but okay." He tried to stop touching his neck, but it was kind of a nervous habit. "I'm in college, studying to be a teacher. I like kids, but I think I'm going to teach high school. Little kids can be kind of mean." He shook his head, his shins still hurt a little, but it was getting better. "I can't really sing, I mean I've only sung in the shower, but I can play the drums and I think I'm pretty good at it." He gave a lopsided grin.

"_Oh a musician! You'll have to play for me sometime." _

Finn doubted that she really wanted him to play for her and she was just being nice, but he nodded. "I could probably do that." He was about to open his mouth and say something else, but she spoke first.

"_My ride is here, thank you again for saving me." _She picked up her cup and walked over to him wrapping her arms wound his shoulders and giving a tight hug. He hugged her back biting his lip. _"I'll see you at work tomorrow." _She pulled back and walked towards the exit. Finn's eyes followed her, she met up with a young boy, he was probably her age or a little older. He had curly hair and was a little taller than she was, he kind of looked like a jerk, but Finn couldn't prove that without talking to him. He shook his head and looked down at his cup again, he was glad that Rachel had convinced him to stay and spend time with her. She was pretty much amazing and he couldn't wait to come into work tomorrow if only to see her again.


End file.
